Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Are we ready for artificial trees and volcanoes, stimulating massive plankton growth, and putting a giant mirror in space above Greenland? It’s sad, but true that we’re going ahead and planning artificial techniques as our plan “B” to cool the earth.

Does knowing that there’s a backup plan like geoengineering encourage people to do less on their part? On the contrary, it should be a red flag and only encourage people to pump up action taken locally and globally.

Early in November, a conference was held at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences to discuss geoengineering remedies for global warming. The participants in the conference noted that global emissions of greenhouse gases were moving above the limits predicted by climate models.

Here’s an interesting site to check out: 19.20.21. is an organization that will study 19 cities with at least 20 million people in the 21st century, compiling a five+-year package of “information on population’s effect regarding urban and business planning.” From what I’ve been able to glean from the site, 19.20.21. will investigate the trends of urbanization for the purpose of Continue Reading / Additional Photos / Videos

Think global, act local… mate. Australians certainly lived up to this slogan in this past weekend’s election, annihilating former Prime Minister John Howard and his liberal coalition, which ended eleven years of conservative rule.

Prime Minister Elect Kevin Rudd wasted no time moving forward on one of his campaign promises to combat climate change. Rudd quickly met with government officials to discuss signing the Kyoto Protocol to cap greenhouse emissions, leaving the U.S. as the only major economy to boycott the pact. Rudd also confirmed that he would be attending the upcoming UN climate summit in Bali, and has already discussed climate change issues with Gordon Brown and Indonesia’s president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

On Saturday, G Living attended the Opportunity Green conference at UCLA. The event’s purpose was to empower people to create new businesses (or alter existing ones) towards a business model that is both green and profitable. All this toward the ultimate goal of making the world a better place.

30 odd speakers shared their views during the various panel discussions and keynote addresses. Some presentations were very interesting, in particular, Jamais Cascio, futurist and co-founder of worldchanging.com, who discussed some big ideas in energy, technology and transportation, and introduced us to the incredible Aptera — three wheels, 230 mpg and available next year.

When The Stern Review into the Economics of Climate Change was released last year many applauded its contents. One of those was former Prime Minister, Tony Blair. Blair felt it was the most important report about the future ever written by the UK Government. However, after many experts have had a look at the report, they feel it just may be overrating the risks of global warming, and taking too lightly the cost to prevent and stop it.

Chief reporter of the report, Sir Nicolas Stern’s message was very straightforward: if nothing was done about global warming, the annual cost would be the same as 5% of Global GDP now and in the future. Yet acting on this could prevent a major disaster. Blair reiterated this at the reports launch last year.

According to the experts, the report, looked at in detail, doesn’t mention the problem in such an extreme way as previously thought. It states that these figures would not start to show up for another 100 years, and the forecast for a catastrophe would not be seen in our lifetime.

Earlier this month the Department for Environmental Foods and Rural Affairs announced that it will clamp down on the number and type of species allowed into the UK. The goal is to protect habitat for native species. According to Joan Ruddock, Minister for Climate Change and Biodiversity, there are both environmental (habitat degredation) and economic (to the tune of £2 billion per year) impacts.

Some of the biggest culprits: the American bullfrog, various crayfish, rhododendron, Japanese knotweed and water hyacinth. Some of the new non-natives to make the list: grass carp, rosey-faced lovebird, water fern and Virginia creeper. DEFRA also reports that there are roughly 2,700 non-native species of concern in the UK, 1,800 of which are plants.

Climate change and energy crises are on everyone’s lips these days. And every politician, it seems, finds a way to slip a paragraph or two on these topics into every speech. But as we know, words don’t necessarily equal green. And ideas don’t always lead to change.

While all politicians talk the talk, many only speculate about walking the walk – usually sometime in the distant future. “By 2050, we hope to see…” Obviously we can’t say that about Al Gore. He’s been very clear on where he stands planet-wise. But he’s not running for president.

So, of the candidates, who’s green and who’s not? Which of our future presidents have real green policies and ideas on how to change the world now?

It’s a topic G Living is more than happy to explore.

Dennis Kucinich

Starting with the 2004 presidential election, Dennis Kucinich has been unfavorably compared to Don Quixote, Cervante’s myopic, wind-mill-charging idealist. But the giants Kucinich is charging are real: a bloated private bureaucracy (health care, military contractors), a secretive, monarchial administration, and a country that has seemingly lost its way in the world.

Humble Beginnings

The oldest of 7 children, Dennis Kucinich was born in 1946 to a Croatian father and an Irish mother in Cleveland. The family was poor and moved 21 times before Dennis was 17, occasionally living in the family car. At 17, Kucinich left home to work and go to school. He graduated from Case Western Reserve University in 1974 with a BA and MA in Speech and Communication. At 23, he was elected to Cleveland’s city council, starting his political career. In 1977 he was elected Cleveland’s mayor, becoming the youngest mayor of a major American city. After a period of political hibernation in the 1980s Kucinich was elected to the House of Representatives for Ohio’s 10th District in 1996, where he has served since.

What doesn’t kill you…

Kucinich has consistently placed his progressive principals above partisan politics. He won Cleveland’s mayoral election based on a promise to not sell the city’s electric utility to a private company (a.k.a. deregulation). He held true to that promise, despite strong pressure from the business sector and even an assassination attempt. Ultimately, this decision proved politically catastrophic. He handily lost the next election, and he is still listed as one of the 10 worst big-city mayors of all time. Kucinich spent the 1980s “drifting” between Cleveland and the Southwest, often depending on the charity of friends. It was not until 1998 that he was recognized for his courage as mayor, saving Cleveland’s residents $195 million in utilities between 1985 and 1995.

In Congress, Kucinich has continued to vote his conscience, something the other candidates have been back-pedaling on since 2002. He voted against the USA PATRIOT act, against the authorization of force in Iraq, and has consistently voted against continued war funding. Kucinich voted for a resolution to investigate the Monica Lewinsky matter (breaking with most Democrats in the Clinton era), he continues to support legislation to provide a single-source health care system accessible to all Americans, and he has consistently supported human rights at home and abroad.

Dennis the Idealist

Besides the trademark peace sign that he waves, perhaps Kucinich’s most out-there idea is to establish a cabinet-level Department of Peace and Non-Violence. Although it sounds a bit Orwellian, the department “would serve to promote non-violence as an organizing principle in our society, and help to create the conditions for a more peaceful world.” The DOP would have both a domestic and international focus and would shine light on human rights issues that transcend political boundaries. Personally I’m not sure the U.S. is ready for this idea (though it seems overdue), but the DOP would act as a fine counterbalance to the DOD.

The “Flip-Flop” flap

Kucinich has changed his mind on some important issues, the most significant of which is abortion. His early voting record in Congress suggests a pro-life stance and he admits that his early views leaned in that direction. During the 2004 presidential campaign, however, he officially came out as pro-choice, stating women wouldn’t “truly be free” without the right to choose.

Is he “G”? If you want to vote for a grassroots vegan, Dennis is your guy. If you want to vote for the most progressive candidate on clean water, clean air, renewable energy and sustainability, Kucinich is your man. He is the only one from the two major parties giving these issues more than lip-service. Unfortunately (and this is a real American political problem), Kucinich’s image does not equate to electability. He’s simply not a popular “brand,” like Hilary and Barack, he does not present as a flashy, well-coiffed, ex-quarterback and (although it shouldn’t make a difference to anyone who takes voting seriously) his wife Elizabeth (30 years younger than he) often stands head and shoulders above him when they are together in public.

In the end, Kucinich’s working-class, ethical-driven brand of politics well represents his Midwestern constituency, and with some strong spin on his image he just may come out on top next summer. Like Quixote, Dennis remains ethical and chivalrous, yet vulnerable in a popular culture that focuses on the veneer instead of what lies at the heart.

In any modern presidential campaign, news about the candidates is all over the web. For accurate info, the best places to start are Kucinich’s website and his portal in Congress where you can access his voting record, his ideas, and his stance on important issues.

What Happened To Us? is a textual pun –- “us” referring both to ourselves and to the United States of America. It is also of a title of a large scale drawing installation by Romanian artist, Dan Perjovski, who exhibited at MOMA in New York earlier this year.

The artist was commissioned by the gallery to draw directly onto the walls of the Donald B. and Catherine C. Marron Atrium. The drawings took two weeks to complete, during which time the gallery was open to the public to allow them to bear witness to the creative process. Perjovski’s work is inspired by political issues, both local and global, like the conflict in the Middle East or the extension of the European Union. Through witty text and incisive political images, Perjovski makes his unique voice heard and seen.

Flea’s got an itch to drive green, and thanks to the Tesla Roadster’s Customer Drive program, he got his chance to scratch. That’s right Flea, he of the pantheon of rock musicians whose star has risen to such heights that he no longer needs middle or last names (think Sting, Madonna and Bob, to name a few), got the opportunity to test drive the new prototype of the Tesla Roadster.

You may have heard his music with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, now read what Michael “Flea” Balzary had to say about his experience driving the new car from Tesla:

“I get into it and pull away from the curb…dead silence. Wow!!!! It drove like nothing I have ever been in before, made my Porsche feel like a golf cart! It took off like a rocket ship, handled so sensitively, it was just amazing and fun and thrilling. I am so happy I went with my gut and bought that car. Yeah it is a long wait, but man, the thing is awesome. […] To enjoy driving as much as is possible in that Tesla, and to pollute nothing, no emissions, into the air, is a great great feeling.”

Just when you thought the Hayden Panettiere dolphin brouhaha was finally coming to a halt, word comes from Japan that a warrant has been issued for the “Heroes” star’s arrest. Her crime: protesting the annual dolphin slaughter and revealing the secret location of their helplessly netted and soon-to-be-killed creatures.

Not to downplay the seriousness of the situation, but if an 18-year-old actress from Los Angeles can fly to Osaka and find this “secret location”, how hidden can it be? And what good will come from throwing her in jail? Will it deter other TV stars from joining up with Save The Whales? Or will it just continue to draw attention to Japan’s annual (and secret) dolphin slaughter?

Now that cars and trucks are greening out, people are probably starting to wonder what’s next in the green transportation market.

Well, the exciting news is here. Aircrafts are on the verge of doing their environmental part!

That’s right. Sir Richard Branson of Virgin Airlines started planning a in Virgin Fuels to produce ethanol fuel in the U.S. that is environmentally responsible.

It seems the race is on between Virgin Airlines and Air New Zealand to see who will be the first to test this safer fuel. The rumor is that Virgin was scheduled to test-fly at the end of 2008, but when Air New Zealand announced their plans to test an aircraft with bio-fuel and kerosene in 2008, Virgin decided they had to be the first. Sir Richard plans to test a 747 with a renewable fuel in the next few months. The Virgin Group is currently working with Boeing Co. and GE Aviation, a unit of General Electric, to develop the fuel.